PRESERVATION OF FISHERY PRODUCTS FOR FOOD. 
461 
Because of its beiug so fat, tbe sliriukage of sworclfisli in pickliug is very great, 
auiouiitiug sometimes to 30 ijer cent of the weight after it has been beheaded and 
eviscerated. When the pickling is done on board vessel the fish are placed with salt 
in barrels in the same manner as in the butts, and are repacked ashore in order to 
insure the proper weight iu the barrel, a small quantity of salt being added usually in 
the repacking, or the fish may be rej)acked in the original pickle. 
The market for the ijroduct exists principally in the interior of New England, 
and especially in Connecticut, where many persons consider it more palatable than 
salted mackerel. The wholesale price is generally about the same as for No. 3 mack- 
erel, averaging from $6 to $8 per barrel. 
A fair idea of the cost and profit in i)ickling swordfish ashore may be obtained 
I'rom the following figures, representing the handling of 4,043 pounds of pickled fish, 
the shrinkage from dressing and inckliug amounting to 1,787 i)ouuds: 
Swordfish (5,830 pounds, at IJ cents). . $72. 87 
Salt 3.07 
Labor, cutting and pickling 5. 84 
Barrels, 15 at 25 cents 3. 75 
Half-barrels, 10 at 16 cents 1. 60 
Cartage, 15 barrels, at 7 cents 1. 05 
10 half-barrels, at 3^ cents. . . .35 
Interest, wear and tear, and profit 44. 87 
Pickled swordfish: 
15 barrels, at $6.50 
10 half-barrels, at $3.45. 
43 pounds, at 31 cents . . . 
$97. .50 
34.50 
1. 40 
133. 40 
133. 40 
BRINE-SALTING FISH ON THE GREAT LAKES. 
Large quantities of trout, whitefish, herring, pike, pickerel, saugers, suckers and 
other species of Great Lakes fish, were formerly salted each year, but the increased 
trade in fresh fish and the development of the frozen-fish business have resulted in a 
large decrease in the product of salt fish. The most profitable disposition of fish on 
the Great Lakes is in the fresh-fish markets, and when the supply is in excess of the 
demand the surplus is generally frozen, the salters receiving only the surplus after 
both the fresh and frozen trades have been supplied, the fish that are salted beiug only 
such as can not be sold with profit, either fresh or frozen. Many of these fish are 
salted immediately after removal from the nets; others are sent to the large iiorts 
packed in ice for the fresh trade, but on a glut developing in the market they are 
salted, and a small quantity consists of fish which have been frozen, but are finally 
salted because of exigencies iu the frozen-fish trade or because of fault iu the freezing. 
Frozen fish are not so satisfactory for pickling as are fresh fish, because of their great 
tendency to rust, but they are equally good for smoking. 
The methods of salting fish on the Great Lakes are essentially the same for the 
various species, differing only slightly in the manner of splitting. They are laid open 
fiat by splitting down the back or down the belly to the tail, or iu case of ciscoes they 
are split down the belly only sufficiently to remove the viscera, similar to the split 
herring on the New England coast. The fish bring a higher price if split down the 
back, and when salted directly from the nets that is the usual method of dressing, 
but many of the large ones have already been split down the belly to the vent in 
dressing for the fresh fish trade, and in that case the si)littiug is coiitiTiued down to 
the tail, so that the fish may be laid out flat. Trout are generally s])lit down the back 
if salted by the fishermen, but most of those on the market are from the fresh-fish 
